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How do you drive people to a brand new social networking site?

Discussion in 'Social Networks' started by crazlunatic, Mar 5, 2008.

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  1. #1
    There is a social networking site called http://digitalswag.com
    The owner claims that it has 5800 members, and has been under operation for almost 5 days, meaning 1100 new members per day. I don't believe the 5 day thing, but a new social networking startup with 5800 is not bad.

    My question to you is, how does any site, (doesn't have to be social networking) get people to join? When you first start off, you have 0, or maybe less than 10 members if you try to get your friends and family to join. How are sites like these able to gain members with facebook and myspace in the field?

    Thanks.
     
    crazlunatic, Mar 5, 2008 IP
  2. codeyourpsd

    codeyourpsd Peon

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    #2
    Probably by advertising it...

    Competitions, or some other incentive.

    and plus, i would imagine that most smaller social networks would just add fake accounts to get more (real) people signing up. would be almost impossible to get people to sign up to a social network if it shows it only has a handful of members
     
    codeyourpsd, Mar 5, 2008 IP
  3. crazlunatic

    crazlunatic Well-Known Member

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    #3
    I agree with the fake accounts since I personally would do the same. But that would require a lot of work, and I don't think a team of a few people could come up with enough fake accounts to trick the community. Besides, if you make like hundreds of fake accounts, the people joining will notice soon enough when trying to interact with other people I suppose.
     
    crazlunatic, Mar 5, 2008 IP
  4. flashculture

    flashculture Peon

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    #4
    For a start you could submit your social network to www.socialnetworklist.com :)
     
    flashculture, Mar 5, 2008 IP
  5. Webfugitive

    Webfugitive Active Member

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    #5
    Find users in your niche and target them by being an expert in the field.
     
    Webfugitive, Mar 5, 2008 IP
  6. funkmofo

    funkmofo Peon

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    #6
    There's a trend toward niche social networks based on shared interests. CPA campaigns, advertising, PR, sponsoring events can drive an initial user base, along w/ incentives from advertisers and sponsors. Key is to target a particular area or subset and then leverage them to drive broader adoption.

    Facebook, for example, was exclusive to Harvard initially, and didn't launch until they got like 1500 users. Same model for each subsequent school, so community wasn't live until there was an active base of users

    Re: your friend's site in particular, the urban teen market is a good niche demographic to go after, 5500 in a week is reasonable with the right people adopting the platform
     
    funkmofo, Mar 5, 2008 IP